Senior Software Engineer - Knowledge Graph & Search (Backend) at Hinge Health

THE OPPORTUNITY Imagine you're a patient in pain, searching for the right provider who accepts your insurance, is close to home, and specializes in your condition. Now imagine getting it wrong—waiting weeks for an appointment only to discover they can't help you. This role exists to eliminate that frustration. You'll build the search infrastructure and entity resolution systems that power Hinge Select—our integration of digital and in-person MSK care. As an early team member, you'll architect geospatial search capabilities that help millions of people find the right care, fast. You'll work at the intersection of search infrastructure, data quality, and healthcare—where precision isn't just nice to have, it has real patient impact. WHAT YOU'LL ACCOMPLISH In your first 3 months, you will: - Audit our current provider and facility discovery architecture, identifying gaps in geospatial search precision and entity resolution accuracy - Build relationships with product, design, and data engineering teams to understand upstream data sources and downstream user needs - Deliver your first search optimization—improving relevance tuning or query performance for a high-traffic lookup scenario In your first 6 months, you will: - Design and launch geospatial search capabilities using Elasticsearch/OpenSearch (radius, bounding-box, polygon-based queries) that scale to millions of records - Extend entity resolution pipelines to deduplicate and reconcile provider data across multiple upstream sources, reducing duplicate records by 30%+ - Own the async data ingestion pipeline for a critical data source, ensuring search indexes stay fresh and accurate In your first year, you will: - Act as the code repository maintainer for the search and knowledge graph services, setting technical standards and mentoring junior engineers - Drive technical strategy for the team, balancing tradeoffs between search relevance, latency, and infrastructure cost - Integrate AI technologies to automate entity matching and improve search personalization, embodying our "Learn-it-all" principle by experimenting with novel approaches WHO YOU ARE - A Learn-it-all: You don't have all the answers, but you thrive on solving novel problems—whether that's tuning geospatial queries or debugging cross-source data quality issues. You actively seek feedback and mentor others through thoughtful code reviews. - A Builder with Impact: You understand that getting entity resolution wrong has real consequences for patients. You balance technical excellence with pragmatism, knowing when to ship fast and when to invest in long-term scalability. - A Clear Communicator: You can explain complex technical concepts—like spatial indexing or fuzzy matching algorithms—to non-technical partners in product and design. You document your decisions clearly, making it easy for teammates to understand your work. - Collaborative and Accountable: You thrive in cross-functional environments, working across product, data engineering, and operations teams. You take ownership of your code in production and respond thoughtfully to incidents. BASIC REQUIREMENTS - 5+ years of full-time software development experience building production systems at scale - 3+ years of hands-on experience with Elasticsearch or OpenSearch, including index design, mapping configuration, query DSL, and relevance tuning - Strong understanding of geospatial search (geo_point/geo_shape types, distance-based queries, bounding box filters) and entity resolution (matching, merging, and deduplicating records across disparate data sources) - Proficiency in modern backend languages (Golang, Python, Java, or similar) and cloud-based services (gRPC, Docker/Kubernetes, AWS) PREFERRED REQUIREMENTS - Experience building search-driven discovery products (provider directories, marketplace search, location finders) - Familiarity with healthcare data standards (NPI, FHIR) and identifiers - Experience with spatial indexing libraries (PostGIS, H3, S2 geometry, Solr spatial) - Background in record linkage and fuzzy matching techniques (Jaro-Winkler, Levenshtein, probabilistic matching) - Experience with workflow orchestration systems (Temporal, Airflow, Step Functions) for data pipelines - Exposure to gRPC service architectures and distributed systems - Experience in healthcare technology or regulated environments - AI technology experience for software design and coding - Mentoring or onboarding junior engineers WORK ENVIRONMENT This is a hybrid role requiring 3 days per week in our San Francisco office. Our office has a dog-friendly program for those who want to bring their furry friends to work. ABOUT HINGE HEALTH At Hinge Health, we're using technology to scale and automate the delivery of healthcare—starting with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, which affect over 1.7 billion people worldwide. With an AI-powered human-centered care model, Hinge Health leverages cutting-edge technology to improve outcomes, experiences, and costs to help people move beyond their pain. The platform addresses a broad spectrum of MSK care—from acute injury, to chronic pain, to post-surgical rehabilitation—through personalized, evidence-based care. As the preferred partner to 50+ health plans, PBMs, and other ecosystem partners, Hinge Health is available to over 20 million people across more than 2,550 employers. The company is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in Montreal and Bangalore. Learn more at www.hingehealth.com [Upgrade to PRO to see link] WHAT YOU'LL LOVE ABOUT US - Inclusive healthcare and benefits: On top of comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, we offer employees and their family members help with gender-affirming care, tools for family and fertility planning, and travel reimbursements if healthcare isn't available where you live. - Planning for the future: Start saving for the future with our traditional or Roth 401k retirement plan options which include a 2% company match. - Modern life stipends: Manage your own learning and development with stipends to support your growth. CULTURE & ENGAGEMENT Hinge Health is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We make employment decisions without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability status, pregnancy, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. We provide reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities. If you feel you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, let us know by reaching out to your recruiter. By submitting your application you are acknowledging we are using your personal data as outlined in the personnel and candidate privacy policy [Upgrade to PRO to see link] Beware of Phishing Attempts: We've noticed an increase in phishing where fraudsters impersonate employees and send fake job offers to steal sensitive information. We'll never ask for financial details during the hiring process and only use "@hingehealth.com [Upgrade to PRO to see link]" emails. If you receive a suspicious offer, stop communication and report it to the US FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. To verify an email from our recruiting team, forward it to [Upgrade to PRO to see contact] [Upgrade to PRO to see link]